Runtime

Production

Deploy Node.js Applications on a VPS

Production-ready Node.js deployment with PM2 process management, Nginx reverse proxy, SSL encryption, cluster mode, and git-based deployment workflows.

At a Glance

Runtime	Node.js 22 LTS
Process Manager	PM2
Recommended Plan	RamNode Cloud VPS 1 GB+ (2 GB for production)
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS
Stack	Node.js, PM2, Nginx, Let's Encrypt
Estimated Setup Time	20–30 minutes

Prerequisites

A RamNode VPS running Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 (1 GB RAM minimum; 2 GB recommended)
Root or sudo access via SSH
A registered domain name (optional, but required for SSL)

Initial Server Setup

Create a non-root user

adduser deploy
usermod -aG sudo deploy
rsync --archive --chown=deploy:deploy ~/.ssh /home/deploy

Update and configure firewall

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw enable

Install Node.js

Option A: NodeSource (Recommended)

Install Node.js 22 LTS

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
node -v && npm -v

Option B: nvm (Multi-Version)

Install via nvm

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
nvm install 22
nvm use 22

Install build tools

sudo apt install -y build-essential

Deploy a Sample Application

Create an Express app

mkdir -p /home/deploy/apps/hello-api
cd /home/deploy/apps/hello-api
npm init -y
npm install express

app.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;

app.use(express.json());

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ message: 'Hello from RamNode!', timestamp: new Date().toISOString() });
});

app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ status: 'ok', uptime: process.uptime() });
});

app.listen(PORT, '127.0.0.1', () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Note: Binding to 127.0.0.1 prevents direct internet access — Nginx will proxy external traffic.

Process Management with PM2

Install and start

sudo npm install -g pm2
cd /home/deploy/apps/hello-api
pm2 start app.js --name hello-api

Essential PM2 commands

pm2 list                  # View running processes
pm2 monit                 # Monitor CPU/memory
pm2 logs hello-api        # View app logs
pm2 restart hello-api     # Restart app

Auto-start on boot

pm2 startup systemd
# Copy and run the outputted command with sudo
pm2 save

Ecosystem File for Multiple Apps

ecosystem.config.js

module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: 'hello-api',
      script: './hello-api/app.js',
      cwd: '/home/deploy/apps',
      instances: 1,
      env: { NODE_ENV: 'production', PORT: 3000 }
    },
    {
      name: 'task-api',
      script: './task-api/app.js',
      cwd: '/home/deploy/apps',
      instances: 'max',
      exec_mode: 'cluster',
      env: { NODE_ENV: 'production', PORT: 3001 }
    }
  ]
};

Install and Configure Nginx

Install Nginx

sudo apt install -y nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Reverse proxy config

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Enable site

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/hello-api /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

SSL with Let's Encrypt

Install Certbot and get certificate

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Verify auto-renewal

sudo systemctl status certbot.timer
sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Nginx Performance Tuning

Gzip compression (nginx.conf http block)

gzip on;
gzip_vary on;
gzip_proxied any;
gzip_comp_level 6;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;
gzip_min_length 256;

Rate limiting (nginx.conf http block)

limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api_limit:10m rate=10r/s;

Apply with limit_req zone=api_limit burst=20 nodelay; in your location block.

Git-Based Deployment Workflow

Set up bare repo on server

mkdir -p /home/deploy/repos/hello-api.git
cd /home/deploy/repos/hello-api.git
git init --bare

post-receive hook

#!/bin/bash
APP_DIR=/home/deploy/apps/hello-api
GIT_DIR=/home/deploy/repos/hello-api.git

echo "Deploying hello-api..."
git --work-tree=$APP_DIR --git-dir=$GIT_DIR checkout -f
cd $APP_DIR
npm install --production
pm2 restart hello-api
echo "Deployment complete."

Make executable and deploy

chmod +x /home/deploy/repos/hello-api.git/hooks/post-receive

# On your local machine:
git remote add production deploy@your-server-ip:/home/deploy/repos/hello-api.git
git push production main

Monitoring and Logging

PM2 log rotation

pm2 install pm2-logrotate
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:max_size 10M
pm2 set pm2-logrotate:retain 7

Nginx logs: /var/log/nginx/access.log and /var/log/nginx/error.log

Security Hardening

Disable root SSH and password auth

# /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no

Install Fail2Ban and auto-updates

sudo systemctl restart sshd
sudo apt install -y fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable fail2ban
sudo systemctl start fail2ban

sudo apt install -y unattended-upgrades
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

Tip: Add server_tokens off; to Nginx's http block to hide the version.

Troubleshooting

App not responding after reboot: Run pm2 resurrect
502 Bad Gateway: Check pm2 list and verify port matches Nginx proxy_pass
EADDRINUSE: Find the conflicting process with sudo lsof -i :3000
Certbot fails: Ensure DNS A record points to VPS IP and ports 80/443 are open

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